Dark Moon
Invisible Blade's method of extracting the password was primitive.
She subdued him in an instant, dragged him to a nearby empty shipping container, and tortured him. I didn't know the specifics of her technique, but it took her less than ten minutes to get what she needed.
Very ninja-like, I suppose….
"The password is 1010. Not even funny."
"Better than 0000 or 1234, at least?"
"I asked why it was that number. Turns out this gang's boss had a first love named Tenten. An organ trafficker being ridiculously sentimental like that… wait, what?"
"Something wrong?"
"…Just shocked me for a second. Apparently Tenten was this gang's first organ-trafficking victim. He killed her in a fit of rage because she rejected his confession—then harvested her organs and sold them. These crazy bastards."
I watched Invisible Blade walk out of the container alone. She held a ninjato in one hand, thick with congealed blood. The man she'd been torturing was almost certainly dead. She approached the white container, entered the password, and the door swung open. She slipped inside.
"Why are there so many boxes? Searching them one by one is going to take time. If I'd known, I wouldn't have killed him so fast—I would have asked first…."
"It's going to take time? How long?"
"Don't know. If I get lucky, under a minute… worst case, over five."
"Dangerous. Their main force is coming back."
The gang was racing toward the hideout in trucks and on bikes.
"They won't take long. Probably within three minutes. Looks like they just finished a job, so they'll head straight for the warehouse…."
"Ha, damn it…. Things are suddenly falling apart. These bastards set traps inside the container. Classical stuff—disarming them isn't a problem, but I need more time."
"…How much?"
"Ten minutes."
"Too long. We'll get caught for sure."
"Then stall them. Use magic, make a scene—whatever. Buy me time to get out with the goods. You were planning to wipe them out anyway, right?"
"Can you secure the item for certain? That's what matters most."
"Trust me."
I sighed and started toward them.
Trusting Invisible Blade wasn't easy. But we were working together right now, and that meant I had to.
The truck stopped at the entrance. Looking down at them from the hill, I opened my Astral.
Charna
Remaining Stacks: 6
Time slowed. More precisely, only my mind accelerated. In that decelerated world, I selected a spell and calculated the formula.
To draw their attention, better to hit them with something big.
Whooooom.
Mana raced through my mana roads, transforming into lightning, and the lightning became a spell formula climbing into the sky. That sensation was more than thrilling. Connected to the magic like this, it felt as though I were freely manipulating the heavens themselves.
From the center of a cloudless, bone-dry sky, blue lightning sparked. The small sparks swelled larger and larger, shining brilliantly, announcing their presence. The humans on the ground noticed the anomaly and looked up.
I watched them and quietly spoke the incantation.
⟨ Thunder Break ⟩
A massive bolt of lightning struck the truck faster than thunder could sound. The truck was obliterated completely, and the residual force spread across the surrounding ground, carving out a small crater. High-voltage current lingered in the crater's earth, refusing to dissipate.
The power of Thunder Break—a 6-Class lightning-type spell, superior form of the 5-Class Thunderbolt—was exactly as expected.
If it had hit that generator over there, it might have blown the entire hideout sky-high.
I rubbed my neck. My mana roads burned hot. If the sixteen broken ones had still been intact, the burden on them would have been less than half of what it was now.
KRA-KA-KA-KA-KA-BOOM!
The thunder arrived a beat late.
I was about to tell Invisible Blade the entrance was cleared when I stopped short. A man was rising from the crater where the current still crackled.
"…He took that and lived? Not an ordinary guy."
Half his face was machine. His two mechanical eyes flashed red, and his gaze locked precisely on me.
A man with half a mechanical face…. Prong, boss of the Prong Gang. A cyborg who can still move after eating a lightning-type spell….
That machinery was no ordinary hardware. Maybe he'd poured every last coin earned from robbery and organ trafficking into his own body.
Prong raised his right hand. His index finger pointed at me. Instantly, a laser fired—too fast to react. Still, the barrier I'd wrapped around myself beforehand caught it. The laser light struck the barrier, fractured, and evaporated. The barrier itself shuddered unsteadily, then vanished.
Four barriers left. He shouldn't be able to fire lasers this fast and powerful four times in a row. Cyborgs have output limits.
"What the hell are you freeloaders doing?! Don't you see the mage over there? Move! I'll kill the slow ones myself!"
Prong's rage-soaked voice rolled across the wasteland. Mixed with mechanical tones, it was deeply threatening. The subordinates who'd been guarding the base charged at me without a second thought. They feared him.
"Nice. Their numbers just dropped hard."
"…Things are pretty serious on this end, though."
"Want some good news? Found the dress. They'd carefully stored it in a magic box."
"A magic box?"
"There's magic cast on the dress. Not combat magic, either. Some crazy bitch put high-level magic on a dress purely for fashion."
"Is that surprising? Where there's demand, there's supply. If you've got it, get out."
"What about you?"
"If the dress is safe, I've got nothing holding me back. I'll wipe them out right here."
Watching the charging enemies, I slipped a hand into my coat pocket and drew it out. A fistful of Blue Distortion petals rested in my palm. The Blue Distortion I'd offered Lana Gomez hadn't been all of it—I'd set some aside for my own research.
Blue Distortion distorts mana wavelengths, making it essential for mana restoration… but it's also excellent as a catalyst for barriers or wards.
Of course, it couldn't be used raw. Controlling the mana-distortion effect required preliminary work. Every petal I held had already been prepared.
I scattered them into the air. Faintly glowing petals rode the wind and drifted outward.
Mana Force Field
The wind-scattered petals were drawn by some invisible force, dispersing in every direction. A mana force field unfurled across the surrounding area. The movements of every enemy who entered it slowed dramatically.
"Whaaaaat'ssss haaaappeeeening—myyyy boooodyyyy issss sloooowing doooownnnn—"
Their voices dragged just as slowly as their bodies. So slow it was painful to listen to. Their consciousness, though, would still be flowing at normal speed.
"You've entered my domain."
They opened fire. Some even launched their arms—rocket punches only a cyborg could pull off. All of it warped and shot upward, harmlessly deflected.
"Crush them."
Their bodies slammed into the ground. They twitched, straining to move somehow. Gravity that would have burst a normal human's entire body was being endured through sheer mechanical force. I counted them. Thirteen. Excluding the few still inside the hideout, that should be all of them.
"I originally wanted to run a few experiments…."
I looked straight ahead. Prong—the most dangerous enemy present—was staring intently this way.
"But to deal with him too, I need to conserve as much power as I can."
I clenched my fist.
The space inside the mana force field warped and twisted. The distortion seized the enemies collapsed on the ground.
Hard mechanical bodies snapped like dry branches. Blood and organs stirred by the warping spun lazily through the air. The space itself made the direction of the distortion plain to see.
Prong watched the force field and spoke.
"Impressive. Never expected to see a mage of this caliber out here."
"I never expected a cyborg who could tank Thunder Break to be sitting in a place like this, either. Why set up shop here?"
"Asking the obvious. To make money, of course. Earn a decent amount here, move somewhere else, earn a decent amount again."
"A decent amount, huh."
I let out a hollow laugh.
Invisible Blade's report of a refrigerator stuffed with human organs floated back to mind.
"So you know what we do. You think a contractor like you has any right to condemn us?"
"No. So I won't. I'm just carrying out a job."
"Who hired you? Was it that bitch?"
"You think I'd tell you?"
"…One of my men inside the hideout just died. His dying words said he saw a ninja. You're drawing my attention while that ninja searches for something, right? There's nothing particularly special in there. At best, my spare parts and… some noble's dress with weird magic on it."
"Is that so important?"
"Not particularly. What's important is… that fucking bitch made a deal with me and then stabbed me in the back. She did one of the two things I hate most in this world. Mila Gomez. That whore is going to pay."
"A deal? What kind of deal did you make with Mila Gomez?"
"I was supposed to receive the Gomez family's secret arts. That would be worth more than that damn magic dress."
He answered readily. It was obvious he was buying time. But I needed time too. The Blue Distortion petals—catalyst for the mana force field—were gradually shifting, surrounding Prong.
The Gomez family's secret arts…. So that's why Lana Gomez disowned her daughter in the original game. If I hadn't interfered, Mila Gomez would have cut a deal with this guy.
That particular curiosity was satisfied.
"I'm out. What are you doing? Want help?"
Invisible Blade's telepathy arrived at just the right moment.
"I'm good. I'll finish this and leave. Stay clear, just in case."
I flicked my hand. Blue petals closed in around Prong. The mana force field contracted toward him, preparing to generate spatial distortion.
"Droid!! Drop it!!"
Shuuuuuuung!
A fighter jet streaked across the sky. It cut through the heavens and released something toward Prong. What looked like a box transformed mid-fall, taking on a roughly humanoid shape.
Kuuung!
A massive three-meter mechanical combat frame slammed down. Prong grinned and backflipped into the machine's center.
The mana force field triggered its spatial distortion.
KWA-DU-DU-DU-DU-DUK!
The warping stopped at crumpling the machine's outer surface. It was hard—excessively hard.
The man inside the battle suit cackled.
"Droid's special battle suit. I'll turn you into pulp."
"You joined hands with Droid? Even the scum of humanity would look normal next to you."
"If it helps me, I'll join hands with humanity's enemies or anyone else. You're not much different. I smell the same scent on you. You're the type who'd do anything for your goals. Am I wrong?"
"……I can't deny it—and that pisses me off even more."
Crackle-crackle-zap!
Lightning danced across my open palm.